Metro Washington Council afl-cio

Hundreds of protesters flooded the plaza in front of the new Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue Thursday, chanting and waving picket signs calling on the hotel owner – Donald J. Trump – to negotiate with workers at his Las Vegas hotel. A huge banner reading “SHAME ON TRUMP” dwarfed the gilded Trump hotel sign as activists and leaders from what seemed like every union and local in the nation’s capital chanted “Up up with the workers, down down with Trump!” and “Hey Trump you can't hide, we can see your greedy side!”

The picket was organized by the AFL-CIO and the Metro Washington Council to support workers at Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas whom Trump has refused to negotiate with despite their majority vote to join a union. A delegation attempted to deliver a letter calling on Trump to negotiate but were locked out of the posh 263-room hotel in the historic Old Post Office building. "Donald Trump you're rich and rude,” chanted the protesters. “We don't like your attitude." More protests against Trump’s “anti-democratic words and deeds” are expected in the new few weeks; click hereto either join or organize a protest. Check out all our picket videos here.- report/videos/photos by Chris Garlock

CLICK BELOW FOR MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE PICKET LINE

Union Workers Boycott Donald Trump Business (Video)
Fox30; By Staff
October 14, 2016
“Great business people are the ones who invest in their employees, who treat their employees as equals, who respect men, women and minorities as human beings, and he's not any of those things,” said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre.

There’s A Boycott Going On At Donald Trump’s Fancy New Hotel
The Huffington Post; By Dave Jamieson
October 13, 2016
A picket line of about two hundred D.C. workers snaked in front of the hotel entrance, discouraging any would-be guests from getting a room for the night. The boycott stems from a labor dispute at Trump’s luxury hotel in Las Vegas, where he’s refused to bargain with a union that won an election to represent workers there last year.

Trump Hotel protest boils over in DC
The Hill; By Tim Daveney
October 13, 2016
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre had a message for Trump: “Until we get that contract, we will be here every day, ever hour, calling on you to negotiate…Donald Trump says he’s the best negotiator in the world,” he told the picketers. “But if he’s so afraid of negotiating with 500 hotel workers, how’s he going to negotiate for the country?” The Las Vegas hotel workers voted to organize in December 2015 and the union was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year, but Trump is challenging the vote

Want to protest on public property in front of the new Trump hotel? You’ll have to ask Trump first(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
​Carlos Jimenez, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, said his group filed paperwork with D.C. police so officers would be aware of a planned protest Thursday. The group didn’t receive a permit because of the late notice, but several union members did gather. Jimenez said he was aware that Trump had some rights to the property but was willing to risk it. “We put in the request, but I don’t know that we even gave them enough time to reply. We’re going to kind of say it’s a sidewalk, and if Trump wants to kick out 200 or 300 people, fine, but we’re not going to risk arrest or do anything like that,” he said.